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The ability to view or read logs or events is essential to being able to solve problems that require technical details. The features needed are the ability to filter logs by severity and⁄or by process. Until you get a handle on a problem, where the exact event describes the error you are encountering, the logs with an "informational" severity can distract you from the troubleshooting effort. Similarly, if you are looking at a problem that has defined processes, each process that is required should be added to a filter, where all events are excluded except for the named processes. Each event if viewed in context will show the “chat” of expected events for a process, as well as the exceptions or errors in the process. Historically, the process to view or read logs has been difficult to understand or execute.

With Windows 7, the process is easier because the Event Viewer GUI (graphical user interface) now has custom filters. See Microsoft TechNet's Create a Custom View page. The downside is that you still need administrative privileges.

Export as much information from the client that will help locate and isolate the problem.

Navigate through the Start menu to get to the event Viewer: Start > Control Panels > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer.

In the Actions pane, select Create Custom View or Filter Current Customer View.